Getty Images acquires world leader in cycling photography TDWsport

Cycling’s top photographer, Tim de Waele joins Getty Images as company commits to premier cycling coverage with new dedicated Velo Collection.

Getty Images, a world leader in visual communications, today announces it has acquired TDWsport. It is the world’s leading cycling photography business and archive. As part of the deal, Tim de Waele – owner of TDWsport and a 27-year veteran in the industry – has joined Getty Images as a staff photographer to lead the company’s cycling coverage.

During his illustrious career, Tim de Waele has captured every major cycling event globally including 25 Grand Tours. Including Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, Vuelta of Spain as well as various Olympic Games cycling events and World Championships, building up an unparalleled archive of over 375,000 images.

The acquisition of TDWsport’s archive will form the basis for a new Velo Collection on gettyimages.com. It is a dedicated, high-quality collection featuring comprehensive coverage of men’s and women’s cycling. The company will also significantly increase its coverage of global cycling events under de Waele’s leadership.

“Sport imagery lies at the very foundation of Getty Images and we work hard to lead the industry in the creation and delivery of world-class sports content for media as well as sports governing bodies, teams and the vital ecosystem of partners and licensees that support them,” said Ken Mainardis, Senior Vice President of Editorial, Getty Images. “Tim is a leader in cycling photography – a huge talent with deep institutional knowledge of the cycling industry so we could not be more excited to have him join the team and lead our coverage of this sport.”

Awarded numerous honours throughout his career for his industry-leading coverage of the sport, de Waele is now on staff, shooting for Getty Images alongside its roster of award-winning sports photographers, all specialists in their field.

“It is an honour to join forces with the talented photographers at Getty Images, as many of them have been friends and colleagues for many years,” said Tim de Waele. “It is also an incredibly exciting moment for cycling – with the support of Getty Images’ unparalleled global distribution and event technology, we will be able [to] deliver premium imagery faster than ever to the sports’ business and fan communities around the world.”

The Velo Collection, including the TDWsport archive, will be available on gettyimages.com from February 2018.

Getty Images partners with many of the most significant sports leagues and governing bodies in the world. Today, Getty Images is the official photographer or photographic partner to over 80 of the world’s leading sports governing bodies, leagues, and clubs, including the PGA, FIFA, the International Olympic Committee, International Cricket Council, Major League Baseball, UEFA, National Hockey League, NASCAR, PGA of America, NBA, Manchester United and FC Bayern Munich.